


Snapshots of Remnant

by lydia_rogue



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, RWBY meme, additional warnings for chapter 16 in author's note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 4,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6122578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydia_rogue/pseuds/lydia_rogue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of snippets and snapshots of various characters and teams from RWBY.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Favorite Character - Yang Xiao Long

**Author's Note:**

> These are from the [RWBY meme](http://marykay91.tumblr.com/post/140054151630/rwby-meme). All originally posted to my [Tumblr](http://marykay91.tumblr.com/). I'll update the tags as I go.
> 
> Quick note - taken literally, both my 'favorite character' and 'favorite female Beacon student' are Yang Xiao Long. I am attempting to have as little overlap between the chapters as possible and explore different characters that maybe I've not written about but still enjoy.

Yang never admitted to anyone - least of all herself - how much Summer's death had changed. Suddenly, not even ten years old, she was forced into the role of mother as well as older sister, and to some degree, father to Ruby. Taiyang had shut down, Qrow was gone, Raven hadn't been heard from in years, and now Summer was dead - killed on a mission that was supposed to have been 'easy.'

She had been secretly relieved when Ruby had shown no affinity for huntsman work at first. She'd trained with Ruby during her downtime from Signal but often would claim exhaustion to avoid it.

Yes, it was Ruby's life-long dream, but it was also Yang's life-long nightmare.

Her perseverance was one of the things Yang loved about Ruby, but in this case, Yang really hoped that she would give it up.

(If she had to hear Ruby say "I'll be a huntress just like mom" one more time she was going to crack.)

Today, though. Today she was supposed to start at Beacon, leaving her sister safe at home on Patch.

"Yang!" Ruby leapt onto her bed. "GUESS WHAT!" she shouted.

"You're smothering me," she mumbled, only half awake.

"I'm going with you!"

Yang's blood ran cold. "What?" Now she was wide awake and hoping she had heard wrong.

But Ruby was throwing her clothes into her backpack. Something about a criminal and Ozpin and being let into the school early. Two years early.

She locked eyes with her father where she saw no comfort, no kindness, only her own fear reflected back at her.


	2. Favorite Female Beacon Student - Nora Valkyrie

Ren was barely tall enough to reach the stove the first time he made pancakes for her. She'd been exiled to stirring the mix at the kitchen table after she'd dragged over a chair to stand on and nearly fell down trying to climb up to help.

Once the batter was made, she went about setting the table while Ren struggled to flip the pancakes with the pan.

"Where's the syrup?" Nora asked as she got the butter out, trying to sound casual.

"I'll get it out when we're ready to eat so there's some left for the pancakes," Ren replied with a chuckle. He always saw right through her attempts at getting to the sugar early.

"Hmph," she said and started to open the drawers and cabinets she could reach.

"Do you really think I put it somewhere you could reach?" he asked, adding another pancake to the growing pile.

"Nooooooooooooo but you also know I know you wouldn't do that so maybe you would thinking I wouldn't bother to look because I know you'd never put it somewhere easy to find," she said and beamed up at him.

He opened his mouth to respond, but Nora poked his nose. "Boop!" she said, running away giggling.

He smiled when he heard the gasp from his room. He'd put the syrup on his nightstand this morning. "Found it!" Nora came back in, giggling and sliding across the floor in her socked feet.

"Perfect timing, the pancakes are done," he said, poking her nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this felt a little Ren-centric... that's intentional.


	3. Favorite Male Beacon Student - Lie Ren

It was raining.

Of course it was raining, what else would the weather be doing but working against them as they tried to escape the Grimm-infested forest. 

And Nora was darting between trees, trying to circle back to get an angle on the Ursa following them.

"Nora! Be careful," Ren yelled at her, wincing as thunder rolled across the sky almost simultaneously with the flash of lightning that was far too close - whiting out his vision for a brief moment.

He could hear her giggling as she darted around, both of them breaking into a clearing at the same time from opposite sides.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he started to cross the space towards her. "I think we lost the Beowolf pack, at least," he said, trying to remain positive. 

The Ursa closing in on them and the fact that he could see Nora's hair standing up on end disagreed with his sunny outlook. "Nora - " was all he got out before the lightning hit.

Nora's giggling was cut off in an instant and Ren could have sworn he felt his own heart stop. He couldn't lose her too - not Nora.

Not his best friend.

But the giggling returned and Nora started to literally spark with the energy. She turned on the approaching Ursa and tackled it to the ground, grabbing its head and ripping it off with ease.

"Nora," he said, crossing the field to her and giving her a tight hug, ignoring the residual static that zapped him. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again."


	4. Favorite Female Non-Beacon Student - Penny Polendina

_"Penny, do be careful, you have to act like a real girl."_

_"Penny, you can't tell anyone. You have to pretend you're a real girl."_

_"No, Penny, only real girls get to do that. You need to practice your fighting."_

_"No one will want to be your friend if you tell them you're not a real girl."_

_"You can't tell anyone - they wouldn't understand."_

"No. No no. You wouldn't understand." Penny clenched her fists to her, trying to hide the damage from her Friend and turning her back. 

"Let me try! You can trust me!"

Penny closed the distance between them to study Ruby's face more closely. "You're my Friend - right?" There was a tightness in her chest - like someone had opened her up for maintenance and tightened down a screw too tight. "You promise you're my Friend?"

"I promise." She saw no lie in Ruby's face and hung her head, stepping back. 

"Ruby... I'm not a real girl." She reached out to show the damage to her synthetic skin that exposed the hard metal underneath.

"Oh." The tight feeling returned. "Penny... I? I don't understand." If she could cry she probably would have. Something felt broken like a gear wouldn't turn right or a wire was crossed and the signals weren't transmitting properly. 

She offered the only explanation she had. "Most girls are born. But I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura." Her voice mimicked her father's proud tone at that. "I'm... not real," she finished, looking down at her hands. She would give anything to be real at this moment. 

Ruby took her hands, looking at the damage before holding them. "Of course you are. You think just because you have nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"

Error. "I don't... uh." She leaned in to look closely at Ruby's face again as she tried to process this new information. "You're taking this extraordinarily well."

Ruby smiled and let go of her hands. "You're not like those things we saw back there." She tapped Penny's chest plate twice. "You've got a heart! And a soul! I can feel it."

And in that moment, Penny felt _real_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penny... Her lament of "I'm not a real girl" always stuck with me because it didn't seem like something she would have said on her own that it was something she'd been told again and again and so this is the scene from A Minor Hiccup/Painting the Town from her perspective.


	5. Favorite Male Non-Beacon Student - Sun Wukong

Sun's never had a secret before in his life. Well, that's not quite true. But in general, he was open about who he was and didn't try to hide. 

Not that he couldn't keep a secret! He definitely hadn't told anyone yet about the pet fish he got Neptune for his birthday.

Ah.

Don't tell anyone that, okay?

The point being that he's never had to keep a big secret, especially not from his team. But Neptune was _supposed_ to be able to keep a secret. 

(Sun was going to kill him. Or tell Blake he's afraid of water. Sun hadn't decided yet.)

Either way, there would be some revenge enacted once Sun had gotten his hands on his teammate who apparently didn't understand the meaning of "Don't tell Scarlet." 

"It's a secret!" he complained to Scarlet. "You can't tell anyone."

"Can't tell anyone what?" Sage asked as he came into the room.

"That Sun has a crush on the Faunus girl on team RWBY."

"Scarlet!"


	6. Favorite Team - CFVY

Her landing strategy was to land on her feet, just like she always did. She curled into a ball as she descended through the trees, letting her leather pants and steel boning of the corset protect her from the worst of the branches. She hit the ground and rolled forward twice before smoothly getting to her feet, adjusting her beret to ensure it hadn't slipped during flight.

His landing strategy was put his trust in his weapons. He hugged a tree, using his blades to slow his descent. He paused briefly on a branch he thought to be about halfway down, trying to get a sense for what unseen dangers might be lurking beneath the tree. The call of "Hello, partner," surprised him.

Her landing strategy was to use the quick wit she had learned in combat school. She grabbed branches briefly as she went down, slowly breaking her fall through the sharp green leaves. Landing on all fours, her ears twitched, listening for any approaching Grimm before checking that her camera and projector lens were undamaged from the fall.

His landing strategy was to use his semblance. He pulled his sword from the sheath on his back just before he landed, sending out a shockwave that uprooted a pair of trees and threw a small Beowolf back to be impaled on the roots. A soft gasp had him looking up to meet the eyes of a Faunus woman, whose eyes grew wide before she bolted into the forest.

Their partnership started with him jumping down out of the tree, trusting the only aura he'd found and no sense of Grimm anywhere in the area. She led them with confidence through the forest, giving him something to focus on. He knew in that moment he would gladly follow her anywhere.

Their partnership started when she didn't run far, disappearing into the foliage to observe him from a distance. When he sat down in the middle of the small crater he'd formed and began to speak of where he came from and who he was, she came out, slowly, trusting the patient kindness she could hear in his voice.

Team CFVY formed at the ancient temple when they weren't the first ones there. The two partner pairs came into the clearing to see another pair battling a King Taijitu, who called for their help and in the same breath suggested that the Faunus could be bait. When she pulled back, fear in her eyes, they all banded together and left the unknown pair to their fate, walking away with their matching artifacts without a word.


	7. Favorite Non-Beacon Team - SSSN

"We'll just find an airship, no big deal." It would have been easier if Neptune had mentioned his crippling fear of water before they got to the docks to catch a ship to Vale, but they could work with it.

"No, it's fine," Neptune said through gritted teeth.

Scarlet reached out to put a comforting hand on their teammate's shoulder, but Neptune shied away. "If you'd told us about your fear before -"

"I am _not_ afraid of water!" Neptune snapped back. The other three exchanged a look. "I'm not!" he insisted.

"No one is saying you are," Sun replied. "But it'd be quicker anyway if we were able to find an airship."

"There aren't actually any direct flights to Vale," Sage chimed in, thumbing through options on his scroll. "With the layovers it will actually take longer to go by air."

"That's settled then. Since I am not afraid of water we'll take the ship that we originally booked." Neptune stalked off towards the ship with a rigid back.

Sun pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is going to be a long trip."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, real life got in the way there for a bit. I should be back on track after today.


	8. Favorite Female Villain - Neopolitan

The silent assassin was a man in all black that works in the dead of night. Usually lean, tall and oozing power.

No one ever suspected the diminutive woman in pastel pink, white and brown who didn't quite reach five feet in heels. When they asked her what had happened to the man who had been killed right next to her, she just frowned and shrugged.

The cold-hearted killer was older and grittier, not caring about their appearance when they rolled out of bed in the morning. Usually scarred, covered in dirt and cleaning blood out from under their fingernails.

No one ever believed the dainty young woman in soft lace and unstained white even when she had a smile that would send a shark running for cover. When she tried to gain entrance to Torchwick's hideout, they laughed and turned her away.

The thief gained entrance through opened locks and guards bribed to look the other way as they slipped in through openings just barely big enough. Usually they made off with your valuables and secrets before you ever knew they were there.

No one was expecting the diminutive, dainty young woman to appear without warning next to Torchwick, twirling her open parasol. "And who are you?" Torchwick asked, not leaning down but meeting her eyes.

She smiled, baring all her teeth.

Roman was a shark, but he didn't run.

"Not one for chit chat, hmmm? What are you here for, then?"

She pulled his scroll from his pocket and thumbed to the most recent article regarding a string of unsolved murders behind locked doors and robberies from secured safes. She passed it back to him with a flourish and a bow.

"Really now? That's clever. Can I ask how?"

She shrugged and her appearance changed. She didn't grow taller, but her form mimicked his - right down to the jauntily cocked bowler hat.

"Well now, that's clever. You want to join up?" She nodded and let her appearance fall back to her preferred state. "I think we can find room for you. What's your name, sweetheart?"

She grabbed his phone again and typed out a single word.

"Neopolitan. Well, Neo, I think this is the start of a wonderful partnership."


	9. Favorite Male Villain - Roman Torchwick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Lunireal, because you're an awesome roommate. Prequel piece to [Burnt Chocolate](http://archiveofourown.org/series/410305).

Roman pretended he didn't care, when in reality he cared deeply for everyone in his life. But he pretended not to care for his own sanity.

He didn't care when his grandparents had died when he was barely old enough to understand what was going on. "They died good deaths," his parents had told him. "They went down like true huntsmen - fighting the Grimm to keep you safe." (He felt responsible for their deaths).

He didn't care that his parents encouraged him to go to combat school like his brother and sister before him to "continue the family legacy." (He wondered why _he_ was to continue the legacy when he was the youngest of the three siblings.)

He didn't care that his older brother didn't survive initiation at Beacon Academy - just a week after they'd gotten word his sister had been killed on her first hunt post-graduation. (He cried himself to sleep every night for a month.)

He didn't care when his parents dropped him off for school one day and never returned from the hunt they hadn't even bothered to tell him about. (He threw the application to Beacon into the trash that night).

I don't care, he told himself the day he went to Coco's place after classes to 'study,' and her parents immediately told him the good news - she'd been accepted to Beacon.

But the truth was he did care. He'd always cared, and that was the problem.


	10. Favorite Adult - Qrow Branwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volume 3 Chapter 12 spoilers in this chapter. You've been warned.

Qrow cringed when someone pounded on his front door. He had just seen Ruby leave with the remains of team JNPR so there was little doubt in his mind as to who was demanding he answer.

He ran his hand through his hair and pulled opened the door to see Taiyang who had one hand raised to continue pounding on the door. "What do you want, Tai?"

" _What did you say?_ " he shouted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ruby is _gone_. She left me a _note_ saying she couldn't just sit there and do nothing - _what did you say to her?_ " Taiyang was waving around a piece of paper that seemed to have Ruby's untidy scrawl on it.

"Tai, you know I can't te-"

" _Do not give me that bullshit, Qrow._ " Taiyang shoved at him, making him stumble back into the house. "This secrecy bullshit has gone too far. It cost me Summer and Raven and now Ruby too? Why can't I be in on your little club, huh? What makes _you_ so special?"

"Nothing," he blurted out, reeling back in the face of Taiyang's anger. "I'm not special, Tai. I don't know why Ozpin singled me out."

"But Summer and Ruby - they're special?"

It wasn't really a question he could answer - nor was it really a question. "I'll look after Ruby, Tai. I swear," he promised instead, grabbing his scythe and Ozpin's cane. "Are you coming with me?"

"No, I need to stay. Yang..." 

Qrow closed his eyes. He'd seen his niece only once since the Fall of Beacon and she'd refused to say anything to him. "She'll make it through, Tai. She always does. Take care of her while I'm gone."

He jumped a little when Taiyang wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. "Make sure she comes home."

After a moment's hesitation he hugged him back. "I will, Tai. I will."


	11. Favorite Partners - Coco Adel and Fox Alistair

Coco and Fox were a study in opposites. She cared deeply about her appearance, often waking up an hour or more before their first class to perfect her image. Fox waking up five minutes before class and rolling out of bed just in time to throw on his uniform was the norm for him. Her weapon was designed to keep enemies at a distance, while his kept him up close and personal.

People often said the only similarity were their gloves.

But even those were a study in opposites. Fox's were long, coming up to his elbows, and made of a thin material that allowed him to read braille without taking them off. Coco's were small, barely coming to her wrists, and made of thick leather - perfect for hauling around her oversized purse gun.

Not so great for reading braille, she grumbled to herself as she pulled the right one off to read the note Fox had left on her desk that simply confirmed he was going to be there until late that evening.

She was happy to learn it for her partner but it also meant wrestling the gloves off at the most inconvenient times.

She eyed the scissors on her desk. She was nothing if not resourceful and this would solve a problem and she could certainly make it look fashionable.

She peeled the other glove off and carefully measured out where to cut before snipping off the index fingers on both gloves.

A quick couple of stitches ensured they wouldn't fall apart and she tugged both back on, satisfied with the fit. She turned when the rest of the team came in.

"Dammit," Yatsuhashi muttered, pulling out his wallet.

Velvet let out a low curse as she did the same.

"A bet?" Coco asked.

"On how long it would take you to modify or give up your gloves so you could read braille more easily," Fox explained, taking his winnings.

"Oh, is this what I have to expect from my team, then?" she asked, flexing her fingers. 

"You say that like you were really expecting something else from us," Fox said, slapping her ass on the way to his desk. "I mean, we just follow in your footsteps, oh fearless leader."


	12. Favorite Ship - Bumbleby

Blake's ears twitched when she heard the lock on the door disengage, resisting the urge to grab her bow and tie it back on. 

"Hey Blakey," Yang sing-songed as she walked in, barely sparing her a second glance before disappearing into the bathroom. 

Blake tried to remain calm and focus on her book. It was one she'd no doubt read a hundred times before, but she just couldn't quite focus on the words today. She bit back an annoyed sigh when she heard the shower turn on. Yang had just gotten back from the gym, of course she would shower. Ruby and Weiss wouldn't be back for another hour or two, she could wait.

When the shower clicked off, Blake still hadn't figured out what book she was reading. Yang hadn't seen her without her bow before and the anticipation was tying knots in her stomach.

"Whatcha reading?" Yang asked when she came back into the room, toweling her hair dry and tilting her head to read the book title. "Ninjas of Love upside down, apparently."

Blake flushed and turned the book rightside up.

Settling in beside her, Yang threw her arm around Blake's shoulders and kissed the tips of her cat ears. "You're beautiful," she whispered, just for Blake. The tightness in her stomach uncoiled and she relaxed into her girlfriend's arms. "But Ruby messaged, saying she's going to be back sooner than she thought, so maybe my baby sister shouldn't walk in on you reading erotica? Unless, of course, you're going to ditch me for her."

She stole a kiss from Yang with a murmured, "Not a chance."


	13. Favorite Quote

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities; I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise; but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place." ~Pyrrha Nikos

_Jaune Arc_. The name resonated deeply within Pyrrha. She knew of the Arc family, of course. They were a long line of famous huntsmen and huntresses - heroes that had changed the course of history. She'd heard of this generation's women - Jaune's sisters and cousins no doubt - but nothing of the man who stood before her.

She'd been drawn to Weiss Schnee, thinking the heiress would understand what it was like to be coming from a place of fame and wanting to be just another student, but Weiss was clearly okay with standing out and so likely not a good fit for what Pyrrha sought in a partner.

But Jaune had stayed out of the spotlight - Pyrrha only knew his family name. He would surely understand the desire to be left alone. 

"This is Pyrrha," Weiss said by way of introduction for Jaune.

She admittedly wasn't used to the statement being met with a blank stare. He knew _nothing_ of her beyond vaguely recognizing her portrait from Pumpkin Pete's cereal boxes.

Her heart soared at the realization. At the same time he deflated, Weiss chastising him for suggesting he should be on a team with Pyrrha.

She made the decision then to seek him out in the Emerald Forest. She wanted someone like him to be her partner.


	14. Favorite Weapon - Velvet's

She triple checked her weapon as she tumbled to a halt in the Emerald Forest. It was sturdier than it looked, but it didn't hurt to ensure that nothing had happened to it - not that it was particularly useful in its current state. She only had a handful of pictures of basic weapons stored away for emergency use - she was hoping that her teammates would be understanding enough to let her use theirs.

Of course, when her three teammates turned out to be _human_ , she couldn't bring herself to ask. The words got caught in her throat, so she lagged behind the three of them, surreptitiously taking photos of their weapons when they were distracted. She made herself useful though, fighting hand to hand and with her backup daggers. 

But then they were cornered by a death stalker. Yatshashi didn't have the agility to maneuver in the tight corner, Coco's gun was having difficulties cutting through the thing's armor and Fox was having trouble tracking the beast's claws and didn't dare use the gun aspect of it for fear of hitting Velvet or Yatsu.

"Yatsuhashi, I need up," Velvet said, making a snap judgement to show them rather than die.

He tilted his sword so she could jump on it and use it like a lever to throw her into the air. She twisted reaching her hand out and activating her weapon.

The hologram formed, pulling Yatsuhashi's sword. She ignored the gasp and slammed it into the death stalker's head, cracking open the armor. She swapped the sword out for Fox's weapons, using the knives to rip back one chunk of armor "Yatsuhashi!" she called. He stepped in, slicing open the vulnerable flesh. 

Her borrowed weapon vanished as the death stalker disintegrated and turned to her team with a hesitant smile, panting heavily.

"That was amazing," Coco said, clasping her shoulder. "You okay to keep going?"

"It's pretty exhausting - draws on my semblance to use the weapons if I don't know them very well," Velvet admitted, ducking her head.

"We'll teach you," Yatsuhashi said, nodding his head. 

"...So anyone care to tell me what just happened?" Fox asked.


	15. Favorite Fight Scene - Food Fight

All they had wanted was a quiet lunch with their teammates and to meet the "awesome" teams at Beacon. Was it _really_ that much to ask? 

Scarlet should have known team RWBY would be trouble - after all it was Sun who had vouched for their "awesomeness". They should have just left when the first apple flew by their head, but they were supposed to meet the rest of their team there for lunch, and so they stayed. It wasn't like one flying apple was something to actually be concerned about.

The hyperactive girl from the other freshman team - JNPR or something - carrying an entire pie plate's worth of whipped cream back to her table really should have tipped them off that this was not the kind of place they wanted to stick around.

But they ignored their gut instinct in favor of waiting on their team. It wasn't that Haven never had food fights, it was known to happen - particularly when Sun was involved - but they didn't usually didn't leave the corner of the cafeteria they started in.

But then the screaming started. And the running. And a blond being hurled across the room into a window.

The rest of the Beacon students leaving as fast as they could.

Yeah, Scarlet wasn't going to stick around. They'd catch up with their teammates later.


	16. Favorite Grimm - King Taijitu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You cut off the head of a King Taijitu, but now the second head's calling the shots." - Qrow Branwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional warnings for: depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide
> 
> This is the internal monologue of a suicidal King Taijitu who has lost one head to a huntsman who they killed and are now left alone without their other head. Loosely based on Qrow's quip about Cinder and Roman.

Pain. It was a terrible ache that wouldn't dissipate, a constant yearning for something that was no longer there. They had never considered what would happen without them because they were one in the same - how could half be dead and the other carry on living?

They hadn't dissipated so they must be alive but how was this living? 

They were never meant to be alone.

It wasn't just the physical ache in their body from half of them being dead, there was a pain in their core that ran far deeper than anything else - something they couldn't describe.

They had screwed up - when the human had cut off their other head, they attacked without thinking, seeking revenge for their other half - for themselves.

But now the human was dead and they didn't feel alive. There was no sweet satisfaction in having gotten revenge, just a hole in their core. They missed something that they never had feared for because how could one be gone without the other?

They were never meant to be alone.

But now there was only one, forced to carry the other because they were not dead - they only wished they were. 

How were they supposed to keep going, dragging their other half along the forest floor. How were they supposed to live like this?

They were never meant to be alone.

They sought out humanity, looking for someone to end their pain. Many humans ran away when they saw them, but one stayed, wielding a massive blade. 

They flicked their tongue out, and laid their head down. They couldn't close their eyes, so they settled with tracking the human's movements with their eyes.

The blade went up.

The blade came down.

They were no longer alone.


End file.
